THE EFFECTS OF A 6 WEEK PLYOMETRIC TRAINING PROGRAMME ON EXPLOSIVE STRENGTH AND AGILITY IN PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL PLAYERS

BACKGROUND: Explosive strength of the lower extremities and agility are important parts of game performance in basketball. Although numerous studies have focused on the assessment of the training effect of plyometric training, studies focusing on elite players are missing. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to find out what changes in explosive strength of the lower extremities take place after a 6 week plyometric training applied in training units during the pre-season in elite basketball players. METHODS: Elite basketball players (N = 12, age 24.36 ± 3.9 years, height 196.2 ± 9.6 cm, weight 92.9 ± 13.9 kg) performed a 6 week plyometric training (PT) programme predominantly focused on explosive strength of the low-er body and upper body and was conducted in sixteen training units during pre-season. The changes in explosive strength were measured by the Counter Movement Jump Free Arms test and Two Step Run Up Jump test; agility was measured using the “T ” Drill test and Hexagonal Obstacle test. The players participated in three measurements. The 1st (pretesting) was performed on the first day of pre-season, the 2nd (post-testing) was done two days after complet-ing the PT programme and the 3rd (post-testing) six weeks after completing the PT programme. Friedman’s ANOVA for repeated measurements was used to determine the significance of differences between the measurement sessions (p <.05). RESULTS: A significant effect of the training programme was observed only for the Hexagonal Obstacle test (p =.01)